DAY 35---ST JOHN'S, ANTIGUA

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Our position today is at St John's on Antigua.  Temperature is 82 degrees with some clouds but mostly sunny all morning.  Passing rain shower in the afternoon

ANTIGUA BACKGROUND INFO: 

        Antigua is a sovereign island country in the West Indies consisting of two major islands:  Antigua and Barbuda separated by 25 miles.  Antigua is just 14 miles long and 11 miles wide with a population of 97,000.  Unlike the past few islands we have visited lately, Antigua and Barbuda are generally low-lying islands.  There shores have many indented beaches, lagoons, and natural harbors. 

        The economy on the islands is almost totally dependent on tourism.  There are many luxury resorts on the islands.  There are few streams as rainfall is minimal resulting in a lack of fresh water.  Desalination provides most all of their potable water supply.  Because of the lack of water, agriculture production is basically for local use.  Financial services and investment banking also make up an important part of the economy.  There is also a rum distillery here.

        English is the official language and 91% of the people are black of West African descent.  77% are Christians.

        We are docked at St John’s the capital and largest city of Antigua and Barbuda.  Its population is just over 22,000.  It is famous for its shopping malls and boutiques selling designer jewelry & clothing.  The cruise dock can handle 4 cruise ships at the same time. 

LAST NIGHT:

L to R:  Nino (Restaurant Mgr), Nickie (General Mgr), and Douglas (Food & Beverage Director).

           Enjoyed our fried chicken thighs dinner with Susanne Peters and Marcia Rector.

                                            Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, & green beans

                                                                   Banana cream pie

                                           Elaine Gray, Scottish singer, was the entertainer.

                           A few more showed up to watch Elaine than had for the comedian.

TODAY:

Looking at downtown St John's from deck 12 forward.  Just a couple hundred yard walk from ship to town.  Again today we must be on a tour as no independent walking around town allowed.  They are taking passengers temperatures before allowed in town on tours.

                                                              Using my telephoto lens

 This is St John's Cathedral taken from ship with my telephoto lens.  This is the 3rd one to be built as the ones in 1683 & 1745 were destroyed by earthquakes.  This one was built in 1845 with the twin towers.

This is a German cruise line's "Mein Schiff 1".  It is docked on the pier next to ours.  We look at this from our balcony today.  Can accommodate 2500 passengers.  Our Mariner's capacity is just 700.

 Next to us at our pier is RCL's "Explorer of the Seas".  We have cruised on this ship.  Too big!!  Can accommodate 3100 passengers.

        No tour today.  The one I wanted to do (cooking school) was fully booked.  I thought I had booked it long time ago but guess not.  Treadmills were full this morning (Rebecca got on one) so I went up on deck 12 and did a fast walk for an hour.  Quite windy.

        Cocktails and dinner this evening with our San Francisco friends, Joan & Charlie Davis, and our Toronto friend, Marcia Rector.  The comedian will be back for his second show at 9:30 in the theater.

        We will be sailing at 6pm this evening for our next port of call, Philipsburg on the island of St Maarten.